Digital Demons III
by The Evil Author
Summary: Epilogue is up. Secrets are revealed while the gang mops up.
1. Prologue - Don't say goodbye

Digital Demons III - Prologue  
  
by Nopporn Wongrassamee  
  
Summary - A Digimon Tamers/Jackie Chan Adventures/  
Gatekeepers Crossover. The Chans say goodbye to the Tamers.  
Uh huh, riiiiight.  
  
Disclaimer - None of these characters are mine, nor am I  
making a profit here.  
  
  
Previously, on Digital Demons...  
  
***  
  
"You don't belong here!" the human exclaimed, shaking as he  
pulled a pair of sunglasses from his toolbox. "This is our  
world! Ours!"  
  
"Uh, if you say so..." Calumon began. He was interupted when  
the human put on the sunglasses and...changed. Suddenly,  
Calumon was confronted not with a human but a humanoid. He  
was grey skinned wearing a red suit and a funny red hat. And  
he still wore the sunglasses.  
  
***  
  
"We are not going to do anything," Yamaki replied coldly.  
"I am going to salvage what I can. You...?" Yamaki held up  
his lighter to the other's eye level and flicked it open  
one last time.  
  
Before the other could react, a fireball sprang from the  
lighter and consumed the other. In an instant, he was  
consumed and reduced to a tiny red crystal. In seconds, the  
crystal itself disintegrated.  
  
***  
  
"What is it, Mr. Yamaki?" Rika's mother asked.  
  
"I've made arrangements for you and your family to return to  
Japan, Mrs. Nonaka," Yamaki told them.  
  
***  
  
"It was Invaders," a security guard gasped as Ruriko healed him.  
"Just a squad of them. The black ones held us off while the red  
one was in the Vault."  
  
"What did they take?" Black asked.  
  
"They took Talismans," Uncle proclaimed as he and a dejected  
Jade exited the Vault. "All Talismans are gone. No other artifacts  
were even touched."  
  
***  
  
And now, Digital Demons continues...  
  
***  
  
"I can't believe they canceled the photo shoot," Rika's mother  
complained.  
  
"Yeah, Mom," Rika agreed. "Just because giant monsters have  
been running around, and the place the studio was going to take  
pictures kinda looks like the Moon now..."  
  
"I didn't mean it that way, Rika," her mother sighed. "I was  
looking forward to spending time with you and Mother after the  
shoot. Only now we're heading back to Japan."  
  
They were in a private lounge at San Francisco International. The  
lounge and associated hangars had been rented and operated by  
Section 13 long before the U.S. government had loaned the  
spooks to the newly refomed AEGIS. The lounge itself was in one  
of those outbuildings seperated from the main terminal for  
private flights.  
  
Waiting in the lounge as their plane was prepped were the  
Gatekeepers, Tamers, and the Digimon. Rika's mother was also  
coming because she didn't want to be parted from her family.  
Captain Black and the Chans had come along to say goodbye.  
  
"Hey, if you're ever in Japan, come and visit us sometime," Henry  
offered to Jade. "My sensei's been teaching me some aikido.  
Maybe we could spar sometime."  
  
"Spar?" Jade questioned.  
  
"Yeah, y'know, practice," Henry clarified. "I hear you're pretty  
good."  
  
Jade just stared at Henry, eyebrows rising in amusement.  
  
"What?" Henry asked defensively.  
  
"Henry," Terriermon piped up from his accustomed spot on his  
partner's head. "Are you asking Jade out on a date?"  
  
"What? No, no. Not a date," Henry said quickly. "Just...y'know,  
practice."  
  
"Sure," Jade answered finally. Then she added teasingly, "It's a  
date."  
  
"Date? What's this about a date?" Jackie inquired, returning from  
a quick trip to the vending machine. "Jade, you're too young to  
date!"  
  
"Jackie," Jade began to whine, obviously annoyed at clueless  
adults.  
  
Watching the byplay, an amused Ruriko turned to Captain Black.  
"I remember when my daughter was that age," she reminisced.  
"I had no idea the headaches I was in for."  
  
"Really?" Black asked.  
  
"Yes, I was a good little girl to my parents," Ruriko recalled. "Well,  
except for the part where I risked my life defending the world  
against Invaders, but my parents didn't know about that part  
until after the fact. Do you have kids, Captain?"  
  
"Not any of my own, no," Black told her. "But Jade's become a  
kind of daughter to Section 13. We like her. She lightens the  
place up. And she keeps us on our toes. She'd also make a great  
agent when she grows up...assuming she doesn't get herself  
killed first."  
  
"Hmm," Ruriko agreed. "Speaking of agents, where's Yamaki? I  
thought he'd be coming with us."  
  
"Apparently, he's meeting with some higher ups," Black replied.  
  
***  
  
"You're late."  
  
"I just spent the morning briefing a particularly dense lot of  
human government officials on yesterday's battle," Yamaki the  
Spy groused back to the Accountant as he took his seat. "Don't  
you start."  
  
Around the circular table sat nine seeming humans. The table  
itself was bathed in a white light of no discernable source,  
illuminating the Invader's eye and thunderbolt logo painted on  
the tabletop. The beings in human guise were themselves  
cloaked in shadows. Although they all knew each other, there  
was always the possibility of someone spying on this place.  
Beyond them was infinite darkness.  
  
"I just think that among ourselves," the Accountant replied, "we  
should at least be..."  
  
"Now that we're all here," the Attache interupted before that old  
agrument could start up again, "I believe we had business to  
discuss?"  
  
"The Digimon," the Orderly piped up.  
  
"Yes, the Digimon," the Soldier mused. He turned to the Spy. "I  
believe you have news on them?"  
  
"Good news," the Spy replied smugly. He placed a briefcase on  
the table and opened it, showing the contents to the others.  
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you the Talismans, our  
salvation against the Digimon."  
  
The eight others examined the Talismans briefly.  
  
"Those...antiques?" the Technician said scornfully.  
  
"First it was Juggernaught," the Accountant added. "Then it was  
this new AEGIS of yours. Now you want us to try these whatever-  
they-ares?"  
  
"I have personally witnessed the effectiveness of these so-called  
'antiques'," the Spy countered. "And that was for an ordinary  
human barely out of childhood. I have it on good authority that  
the Talismans will work for anyone or anything. After all, they  
used to be the property of one of the Masters we're up against."  
  
"Hmm, if they're good enough for one of the Masters, maybe they  
will be more than good enough for us," the Zealot mused aloud.  
  
"Maybe they are and maybe they're not," the Soldier hedged. "In  
any case, other measures may be required. Take this 'Catalyst' for  
example. The Enemy desires them. A good rule of war is to  
deprive one's enemy of what he wants. The simplest way to do  
that is destroy the Catalyst."  
  
"On the other hand, the Catalyst's very existance acts as a lure to  
draw the Enemy out," the Spy argued. "The team I've managed to  
assemble so far has managed to account for three Masters so  
far."  
  
"Really?" the Soldier asked, intrigued. "Too bad you weren't here  
five minutes earlier to argue that. Now, it's too late to call off the  
air strike."  
  
"Oh no," the Spy groaned. "Tell me you didn't..."  
  
***  
  
"Ma'am is your purse beeping?" Black asked Ruriko.  
  
Before Ruriko could reply, Calumon, Guilmon, and one of Jeri's  
Gatepuppets barged between Captain Black and Ruriko in what  
appeared to be a lounge-wide game of Tag.  
  
"Hey, careful!" Black called to them as Ruriko rummaged through  
her purse. "You might break something!"  
  
As Ruriko pulled a beeping pen with a light blinking in time with  
it, all of the lounge's windows imploded into the lounge. The  
shockwave causing this knocked everyone off their feet.  
  
"It's not my fault!" someone shouted as their hearing came back.  
Everybody seemed more or less intact.  
  
"That came from outside!" Black shouted. "Wait!" he called as  
everyone immediately headed out through the shattered  
windows. Cursing under his breath, he chased after them.  
  
Leading the charge, Ruriko grabbed a frantic airline mechanic as  
he was running past. "What's going on?" she demanded.  
  
"We just got hit by a freaking F-14!" he babbled back, pointing  
up in the air.  
  
Letting the man go, Ruriko spotted the fighter in question. It was  
a dead black against the blue sky. It was also coming around for  
another attack run.  
  
"Everybody, scatter!" Ruriko ordered. The fighter strafed at them  
with familiar violet energy pulses as they scattered. Except for  
blowing craters in the ground, it failed to seriously injure anyone.  
It roared past overhead almost close enough to touch.  
  
"Our turn," Ruriko muttered to herself. Then she raised her voice  
so everyone could hear. "Everyone who can, listen up!" She  
pointed at the rising fighter with her still beeping pen. "That's an  
Invader! Shoot it down!"  
  
As the Invader fighter started another run at them, Guilmon,  
Renamon, and Jeri opened up on it. The plane dodged Guilmon's  
fireball easily, shot Jeri's Gatepuppet out of the air, and bounced  
most of Renamon's digital diamonds harmlessly off it's skin. But  
most was not all.  
  
One of the yellow Digimon's shots must have been sucked into an  
air intake. When the left engine banged loudly enough to be  
heard groundside and started trailing smoke, the Invader fighter  
immediately broke off it's attack run and banked away.  
  
"All right!" Rika cheered. "Renamon, your Ultimate level can fly,  
so..."  
  
Before the girl could complete the sentence, the Invader fighter  
kicked in the afterburner on its remaining engine and zoomed  
away from them. In mere seconds, it was gone from sight.  
  
"Oh, now that's just not fair!" Rika scowled, frustrated.  
  
"What was that all about?" Jackie asked, puzzled.  
  
"Well, Mr. Chan, that was either a botched attempt to kill us all,"  
Ruriko answered, "or a good attempt to prevent us from going  
back to Japan." She pointed to the burning wreckage of their  
plane. "C'mon, everyone, let's see if we can find any survivors." 


	2. Part 1 - Prepping the team

Digital Demons III - Part 1  
  
by Nopporn Wongrassamee  
  
Summary - A Digimon Tamers/Jackie Chan Adventures/  
Gatekeepers Crossover.   
  
Disclaimer - None of these characters are mine, nor am I  
making a profit here.  
  
  
"They ran away," Ruriko said thoughtfully. "They've never done  
that before."  
  
"Before what?" Jackie asked, a little puzzled. "I seem to recall  
them running away at that first battle."  
  
After the Invader attack on them at the airport, the whole party  
had returned to Section 13. They had even managed to avoid  
the news crews, a feat in itself in America. Ruriko and Jackie were  
in the visitor's lounge watching the news report on TV.  
  
"When I was young, Mr. Chan, the Invaders would just keep  
attacking until we destroyed them," Ruriko explained.  
  
"Oh, you can call me Jackie," Jackie told her.  
  
"Thank you...Jackie," Ruriko said, flashing him a smile. "Anyway,  
I've never known them to hit and run before."  
  
"There was yesterday," Jackie pointed out.  
  
"Well, yes," Ruriko agreed. "but it was pretty obvious that they  
were after the Talismans."  
  
"Hello, people," Captain Black said tiredly. He plopped down on  
an old couch and asked disgustedly, "If I handed one of you my  
gun, would you shoot me? Please?"  
  
"Captain? What's wrong?" Ruriko inquired concerned.  
  
"My people have finally discovered how the Invaders bypassed  
the monitors," Black replied miserably. "It was so bloody simple!"  
  
"Okay, I'll bite," Jackie said. "How'd they do it?"  
  
"There's a folder in the computer where all the threat profiles are  
kept," Black began. "When the monitors detect a signal, it compares the signal to the profiles in that folder and a folder for  
a natural and human made signals. If there's a match in the  
threat folder, an alarm is sounded. Well, someone went and  
moved the Invader's profile from the threat to the non-threat  
folder."  
  
"How'd they do that?" Ruriko asked, frowning. "Don't you have  
security firewalls in place?"  
  
"Yes, but only for anyone trying to access the system from outside  
Section 13," Black told her. "On the inside, anyone with access to  
one of the monitor's teminals can access both folders. If you  
know where to look, moving the right files is as simple as  
dragging and clicking a mouse. This means that someone in  
Section 13 is an Invader agent. But then, we already knew that  
after we were raided."  
  
"That's awful," Ruriko murmured sympathetically.  
  
"Um, could you go over that again?" Jackie asked hesitantly. At  
the other two's stares, he added. "I don't know computers very  
well. I'm an archaeologist, not an engineer."  
  
***  
  
"Well, that was... embarassing," the Attache commented after  
they recieved the after action report.  
  
"YES!" the Zealot thundered. "They should have pressed the  
attack at all costs! Had they been willing to sacrifice themselves  
they would have been VICTORIOUS!"  
  
"Just between you and me," the Lawyer whispered to the Spy,  
leaning over so only they could hear, "I think he's been hanging  
around the Middle East too long."  
  
"I heard that!" the Zealot interjected, glaring at them.  
  
"Nevertheless," the Soldier said shortly, "pressing the attack  
would have been pointless. If the attack had been pressed, the  
only result would have been a waste of soldiers for no gain."  
  
"I agree," the Accountant weighed in. "Let humans expend  
themselves in pointless suicide attacks. We save our strength  
for when it will be the most use."  
  
"But in the days of our Masters..." the Zealot began.  
  
"Our old Masters are gone," the Spy snapped, tired of this old  
argument, "banished from the world by the human Shun Ukiya.  
Live with it, already. I for one like us making our own decisions  
for ourselves."  
  
"Yes, making our own decisions," the Technician said slowly. He  
turned to the Spy. "I want to know what gave you the right to  
destroy one of our own without consulting the rest of us."  
  
"Yes, there are certain procedures that should be followed," the  
Lawyer added thoughtfully.  
  
"That idiot broke cover," the Spy said shortly. "He revealed our  
presence for all the world to see. He got many of our own killed.  
He even failed in what he set out to do. If I had let him go, he  
would have caused another fiasco."  
  
"I don't know," the Soldier mused aloud. "Unlike you, I don't  
worship at the altar of secrecy. Now that the human governments  
know we still exist, we are free to take more... direct action."  
  
"You mean like this morning's attack?" the Spy said sarcastically.  
  
***  
  
"Well, one good thing is that Mr. Yamaki has his superheroes,"  
Captain Black mused. "Pity they're all so young. I hope they'll  
suffice in the world defending department."  
  
"They seemed to have done fine so far," Ruriko said neutrally,  
unsure if she ought to be included on Yamaki's "team".  
  
"I hope you don't consider Jade as part of this team," Jackie  
interjected. "She's too..."  
  
"Jackie, don't say that she's too young," Black interupted. "Jade's  
the same age as the others."  
  
"Um..." Jackie mumbled as he searched for other arguments. "It's  
just that this is all too dangerous."  
  
"Okay, now I think you're selling Jade too short," Ruriko added.  
  
"What I mean is that Jade has no powers," Jackie explained.  
"Without the Talismans, I'm not sure she can keep up with the  
other kids."  
  
***  
  
"Ow!"  
  
"Geez, Henry," Jade replied, leaning over and looking down at  
her sparring partner. He was laid flat out on the mat. "I would've  
thought that your sensei would have taught you how to fall as  
lesson one."  
  
"He did," Henry groaned, holding up a hand. "But he doesn't  
usually flip me over his shoulder."  
  
Grasping the extended hand, Jade hauled Henry to his feet. "So  
you wanna quit?" Jade asked.  
  
"No way," Henry snorted. "I'm going to put you on your back if it's  
the last thing I do."  
  
The kids and their Digimon had moved into Section 13's gym.  
Actually, Jade had taken up Henry's offer to spar and led him to  
the gym. The others had tagged along for lack of anything better  
to do. A soft mat covering the floor took up most of the space,  
set there so that Agents could practice their hand to hand.  
  
Rika watched as Henry and Jade exchanged another flurry of  
blows, followed quickly by Henry hitting the mat again. He got  
up again for another round.  
  
"Y'know, I never figured Henry as the macho type," Rika remarked  
to no one in particular.  
  
"I guess you never know about some people," Jeri replied, looking  
up from watching Takato sketch. Since returning from the airport,  
he had appropriated some printer paper, color pens, and pencils.  
Takato had been sketching furiously away ever since. Guilmon  
also looked on, interested.  
  
"Ooh, that's gotta hurt," Terriermon commented as his partner  
was floored yet again. "You need help, Henry?"  
  
"No!" his partner croaked.  
  
"Okay," Terriermon said cheerfully as Henry got to his feet again,  
"but if you're waiting to digivolve, I don't think it's working."  
  
"Oh, har har," Henry said flatly.  
  
"Is that fun?" Calumon asked. "'cause if it is, you humans are  
weirder than I thought. That looks like it hurts."  
  
"Yeah, you look like you need a break Henry," Jade added.  
  
"One more time," Henry gritted out, assuming a ready stance.  
  
"Whatever you say," Jade sighed, not doing the same.  
  
Henry feinted with a punch, then lashed out with his foot. With  
one hand and barely shifting her stance, Jade caught the foot  
and twisted. Henry suddenly found that neither of his feet were  
on the mat.  
  
"Ow!"  
  
***  
  
"Y'know, those kids are pretty young," Black said, rubbing his  
chin thoughtfully.  
  
"Don't I know it," Ruriko agreed. "I was seventeen when I started.  
Rika's younger than I was." She sighed. "Seems like alot younger."  
  
"Haven't I been saying that?" Jackie said, exasperated. "I know  
they have powers or Digimon or whatever, but they're too young  
to be doing what this 'defend the world' stuff."  
  
"There is that," Black admitted.  
  
"They'd just go ahead and do it anyway," Ruriko said. "Trust me  
on this, I know from personal experience...on both sides of the  
age gap."  
  
"What they need is adult supervision," Black announced  
suddenly. "They need an adult who can acompany them into the  
field and guide them. Someone responsible, capable..." He  
glanced at Ruriko and Jackie and smiled.  
  
"Don't look at me," Ruriko said quickly. "I've had all the  
excitement I can stand. I just want to enjoy my retirement."  
  
"I'm just an archaeologist!" Jackie exclaimed, raising his hands in  
protest..  
  
"Relax, people," Black chuckled. "I wasn't considering either of  
you anyway. I have one of my own agents in mind."  
  
***  
  
"Waauuugh!" Thump.  
  
"Hey, listen Henry. How about you try and floor me and I'll defend  
myself as best I can without counterattacking?" Jade suggested  
as she helped him up again.  
  
"No," Henry said stubbornly. "I'm going to do this right or not...  
WAAAUGH!" Thump. "Oooooh, okay."  
  
"Wanna bet that Henry will finally drop Jade?" Rika asked Jeri as  
Henry began. Jade fended off every attack, only slowly backing  
away.  
  
"No bet," Jeri replied. "Why is Henry so bent on trying to beat  
Jade?"  
  
"Beats me," Rika shrugged.  
  
"Oh, I know!" Terriermon interjected. "Back when we fought the  
D-Reaper, we ran out of ammo and Henry had us use several  
martial arts moves to fend off attacks from those big sickle  
things."  
  
"Oh, I get it, it's a self esteem thing," Rika concluded. "Since he's  
the only Tamer who knows martial arts of any kind, meeting  
someone who's better than he is has got to rankle."  
  
"Hey, that works, too," Terriermon added.  
  
"Better?" Jeri mused, watching as the sparring duo reached the  
edge of the mat. Jade ducked a blow by diving into a forward roll.  
When she was back up on her feet, Henry had his back to the  
edge and Jade had the whole expanse of the mat to back up on.  
"Jade's better alright. By an order of magnitude or two."  
  
"Hey, Renamon, you've been pretty quiet," Rika called to empty  
air. "Do you think you could take Jade?"  
  
"Let me put it this way," Renamon answered, appearing beside  
her partner. The yellow Digimon's eyes were locked on the duo on  
the mat. "I'd prefer to keep my distance. Or digivolve first."  
  
"Alright, I'm done!" Takato announced loudly, drawing the  
attention of the spectators. He held up his stack of notes and  
illustrations. "Hey, guys, take a look!"  
  
"ARGH!" came from the mat, quickly followed by a solid thump.  
"Hey," Henry gasped, "you said you wouldn't counterattack."  
  
"Sorry," Jade apologized, "but you were leaving yourself wide  
open on those last few moves. I just couldn't resist."  
  
"Hey, Henry come and take a look!" Takato called.  
  
"Sure!" Henry replied, sitting up slowly. "Just let me make sure I'm  
still in one piece."  
  
***  
  
"Sir, you must be joking," the Agent said when he got the news.  
  
"No joke," Black said firmly. "Those kids need guidance."  
  
"But I work best alone!" the Agent argued. "I don't know anything  
about paranormal operations. And...and kids?"  
  
"Think of it as expanding your repetoire," Black said cheerfully.  
  
"Couldn't you get someone else, sir?"  
  
"You're my best agent," Black told him.  
  
"What about Chan or that Mrs. Ukiya woman?" the agent asked,  
not at all mollified by Black's compliment. "I'm sure either one of  
them would make a better team leader than I would."  
  
"I'm sure they would, too," Black agreed. "Unfortunately, they  
both declined. Being civilians, they have that option. You, on the  
other hand, work for me."  
  
"D'oh!"  
  
***  
  
"So, what do you guys think?" Takato asked.  
  
The primary picture appeared to be an illustration of a four  
footed version of Growlmon wearing a silvery metal plated vest  
and helmet.. A pair of jet pods were mounted on the back with  
forward swept wings exdending from them. Jet boots adorned the  
hind feet. A little Takato-figure drawn to scale indicated that the  
Digimon would be just smaller than a bus if one discounted the  
long, whiplike tail.  
  
"Takato, what is this?" Jeri asked doubtfully.  
  
"It's Guilmon's new Champion level," Takato said proudly.  
  
"Um, Takato, Guilmon already has a Champion level form," Henry  
pointed out.  
  
"Yes, but this is his..." Takato whipped out a Modify card, "Armor  
Digivolve form."  
  
"There's no Armor Digivolve card in the game," Rika objected.  
  
"Well, there's no official Armor Digivolving in the card game,"  
Takato admitted. "So I made my own. The cards are just a mental  
crutch anyway for what we do. I just decided to take advantage  
of it."  
  
"On the TV show, the Digimon Armor Digivolved to get around a  
block put up by these black obelisks," Jade said. "But there's not  
even a hint that anyone's duplicated that in real life. So why  
would you want to Armor Digivolve?"  
  
"Well, after this morning's attack, I realized we needed something  
that could catch that Invader plane," Takato explained. "None of  
our own fliers are fast enough. So I needed to come up with an  
alternate digivolved form..."  
  
"Is that a cockpit?" Henry interupted, examining one of the notes  
pages closely. Before Takato could respond, Captain Black  
entered the gym.  
  
"Hey, kids" Captain Black greeted. He was followed by Rika's  
grandmother and Jade's uncle Jackie. Jackie seemed distinctly  
unhappy.  
  
"Hi, Captain Black," Takato returned cheerfully. "What's up?"  
  
"Given that you and your friends' young ages and that we're  
basically asking you to defend the Earth from all manner of  
paranormal threats," Black began, "we thought that giving you  
some adult supervision and leadership might be a good idea. So  
I got one for you kids."  
  
A round of groans and denials came from the kids in question.  
  
"Wait a minute," Rika said suspiciously, cutting the others off.  
She scheered up. "It's you, Grandma, right?"  
  
"Ah, no, dear," her grandmother replied, avoiding Rika's eyes. "I  
declined."  
  
"Jackie! It's you, isn't it?" Jade deduced, wrongly divining the  
cause of her uncle's mood.  
  
"Ah, no, sorry," Jackie replied sheepishly.  
  
"So, who is it?" Jeri asked, confused. "It's not you, Captain Black,  
is it?"  
  
"No, it isn't," Captain Black told her. He stepped aside to let a  
fourth adult into the gym. "Kids, I'd like you to meet your new  
field commander, Agent MacTaggert!"  
  
"Aw, no," Jade groaned, recognizing the Agent. "Not Agent Tag!"  
  
***  
  
"Okay, let me see if I got this right," Alice said to the other girl in  
the white kimono. She still didn't know her name. "There's this  
guy who's been a worthless bum all his life. By the end of the  
story, he impersonates another man about to be killed because  
it's the right thing to do. The other man is a good man with a  
wife who loves him and would be devastated by his loss. The  
first man has no one who would miss him and decides to make  
his life mean something. Have I got it right?"  
  
Setting the book aside, the other girl just stared back.  
  
"Are you trying to draw a parallel with my life here?" Alice  
pressed. "I'm just not seeing the connection here."  
  
The other girl just stared back.  
  
"Oh wait, I know what you're getting at," Alice said suddenly as  
a new thought occured to her. "You're drawing parallels to  
Dobermon. Right?"  
  
The other girl just stared back.  
  
"Sorry, but you're wrong there," Alice continued. "Dobermon had  
someone who loved him. Me. He was my friend, maybe would  
even have been my partner. So your parallel doesn't hold up."  
  
The other girl just stared back.  
  
"Now, wait, are you refering to me as the guy who was supposed  
to be executed?" Alice asked scornfully. "Sorry, I'm not married."  
  
The other girl just stared back.  
  
"But there are other people who love me..." Alice said slowly. She  
mulled over that fact for several minutes in silence. Then she  
got to her feet. "Excuse me, I have to go," she said quickly to the  
other girl.  
  
The other girl just stared back as Alice opened her Gate and  
stepped through. After Alice was gone, Yukino smiled a sad kind  
of smile.  
  
"It is a far, far better thing I do..." 


	3. Part 2 - Tag!

Digital Demons III - Part 2  
  
by Nopporn Wongrassamee  
  
Summary - A Digimon Tamers/Jackie Chan Adventures/  
Gatekeepers Crossover. The team gets to know their chaperone  
while Jade gets the boot.  
  
Disclaimer - None of these characters are mine, nor am I making a  
profit here.  
  
  
"Captain, you didn't tell me SHE would be on the team," Agent  
MacTaggert complained.  
  
"Oh, yeah, it's great to see you, too, Tag," Jade replied with equal  
enthusiasm. That is to say, none.  
  
"Well, I certainly don't need you cramping my style, little girl,"  
MacTaggert told Jade pointedly. "Now, I've been put in charge of  
this so-called team which is cramping enough. And kids? You all  
should be home and letting the adults handle the situation. But  
since you're the ones with all the powers, I guess you'll just have to do."  
  
"Oh, yeah. This guy's going to be a great leader," Rika muttered  
sarcastically.  
  
"Cramp your style?" Jade shot back to MacTaggert, "I seem to  
recall Uncle Jackie and I pulling your a... you out of a bad  
situation."  
  
"I wouldn't have been in that bad situation, if you and your Uncle  
hadn't followed me in the first place," MacTaggert retorted. He  
turned to Captain Black. "Sir, you're not going to make me work  
with this little monster, are you?"  
  
"Um, no," Captain Black replied, troubled.  
  
"Yes!" Jade whispered to herself.  
  
"I'm sorry, Jade," Black sighed. "But you can't be on the team."  
  
"What?" Jade yelped.  
  
"Aside from the general lack of powers," Black began to explain,  
"there are other factors that say you can't join."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
In reply, Black just turned to look at Jackie.  
  
"Jackie?" Jade half asked, half pleaded.  
  
"I'm sorry, Jade," Jackie told her, resigned to knowing exactly what  
Jade's response was going to be. "But it's..."  
  
"...too dangerous," Jade finished for him. "Yeah, I've heard it  
before." Barging between the adults, Jade ran from the gym.  
Tears were beginning to leak from her eyes.  
  
***  
  
"Jade really had her heart set on being part of this team," Ruriko  
commented after she and Black had retired to his office. "Are you  
sure you did the right thing? When I was on a team, we had a  
member that had no powers that I could see. Well, my then  
husband to be insisted the guy had a Gate power, and he turned  
out to be right in the end. Where was I?" She paused to get her  
thoughts back on track. "Anyway, the point is, for most of the time  
that I knew Bancho, he had no discernable powers at all. That  
didn't make him useless, though."  
  
"Unfortunately, ma'am, it wasn't my decision," Black sighed in  
reply. "Without powers, I really have no justification to defy the  
expressed wishes of her legal guardian."  
  
"And Agent MacTaggert?" Ruriko queried. "From what I saw, he  
didn't exactly make a great first impression on the kids."  
  
"I'm sure that once they get to know him, they'll get along fine,"  
Black said confidently.  
  
***  
  
"Alright, everyone, that's enough pushups for now," MacTaggert  
announced, springing to his feet.  
  
Sweaty exhausted, kids and and Digimon alike collapsed to the  
mat exhausted. For nearly half an hour, the Agent had been  
running them through a series of exercises. For most of them, he  
also seemed to be running them into the ground, too.  
  
Unnoticed during the exercises were Takato's digivice and notes  
left on a bench. The notes had been busy swiping themselves  
through his digivice of their own accord.  
  
"C'mon, everyone, you're not tired yet, are you?" MacTaggert  
asked rhetorically. "We still have a two mile run on the treadmills  
to do."  
  
In reply, there came a collective moan and groan fest.  
  
"You lot are supposed to go out and save the world!" MacTaggert  
scolded. "How are you supposed to do that if you're not in  
shape?"  
  
"What shape?" Terriermon asked plaintively. "Like a puddle of  
water? That's what I feel like."  
  
"This is no fun," Calumon complained.  
  
"Fun? Fun?" MacTaggert repeated indignantly. "We're out to save  
the world, people. This is serious business, not 'fun'!"  
  
"Agent Tag..." Henry began as everyone strated trying to get to  
their feet.  
  
"MacTaggert," the Agent corrected. "'Tag' is just a code name I get  
assigned when I'm on assignment."  
  
"Right, Agent MacTaggert," Henry began again, "I don't think we're  
going to beat the bad guys with our fists."  
  
"Really? And how are you going to beat them?" MacTaggert asked  
snidely. "Care to give me a demonstration?"  
  
"Gee, that sounds like a great idea!" Takato replied with over  
exaggerated innocence. He turned to his partner. "Guilmon, give  
the nice Agent a demo, will ya?"  
  
"Okay, Takato," Guilmon agreed readily, reading his partner's  
intent. The Digimon turned to the Agent, and opened his mouth  
wide. "PYRO SPHERE!"  
  
***  
  
"Jade?" Jackie called, knocking on the doorframe to Jade's  
bedroom. "Can I come in?"  
  
"Go away!" Jade replied from where she sulked in her bed.  
  
"Hey, why don't we do something together?" Jackie suggested  
suddenly, grasping at straws.  
  
"Like what?" Jade asked suspiciously.  
  
"There's a show at the Convention Center," Jackie suggested. "The  
Chinese government has many cultural artifacts touring the U.S.  
and they're in San Francisco right now. I believed we talked about  
it before... all this happened."  
  
"Oh, that." Jade frowned thoughtfully. "You want us to go see a  
bunch of antiques from China?"  
  
"Yes," Jackie replied, encouraged by Jade's seeming interest.  
  
"Even though we live in and above a Chinese antique shop?"  
Jade asked pointedly.  
  
"Uh," Jackie stammered, seeing what Jade was getting at.  
  
"No thanks," Jade told Jackie, throwing her sheets over her head.  
  
"I'll be downstairs if you need me," Jackie sighed as he left.  
  
A few minutes later, Jade's cell phone rang.  
  
***  
  
"This is Jade. And before you ask, no, I don't want to buy  
anything."  
  
"Jade?"  
  
"Rika? What's up? New emergency?"  
  
"No, no emergency."  
  
"You guys getting along with Agent Tag?"  
  
"Let's just say we took a while to establish where we stand with  
each other."  
  
"Uh...okay."  
  
"Listen, Jade, the reason I called is that the guys and I are, um,  
bored. That's it, bored. We'd like to see a little more of America  
while we're here. Something more than Section 13, anyway. Got  
any ideas?"  
  
"Is Agent Tag okay with this? He is your new leader guy now,  
right?"  
  
"Let's just say Agent Tag isn't in a position to disagree."  
  
"Rika, you didn't hurt him, did you?"  
  
"What? No! He's alive and intact. Agent Tag's just... indisposed  
right now."  
  
"Darn."  
  
"So...any ideas, Jade?"  
  
"Yeah, I have an idea. Meet me at..."  
  
***  
  
  
"Hey, Dolphin," Shibumi greeted, setting a mug of steaming  
coffee on the other man's desk. "How are you doing?"  
  
"Just fine," the other man mumbled as he worked some piece of  
coding. "Thanks for the coffee."  
  
"Sure thing," Shibumi replied, taking a sip from his own mug.  
"Funning thing though. From here you look like crap. Wanna talk  
about it?"  
  
Rob McCoy - aka "Dolphin" - glanced at the photo on his desk  
the resumed his work. "No," he said shortly.  
  
Shibumi picked up the photo and looked at it. It was a picture of  
a girl roughly the same age as the Tamers. "Is this your  
daughter?" he asked gently.  
  
Dolphin stopped work and rested his head in his hands. "Was my  
daughter," Dolphin corrected tiredly. "She vanished during the  
D-Reaper incident. Last anyone saw, she was heading into the  
danger zone. No one has seen her since. I was so busy, I didn't  
even no she was missing until afterwards." He was on the verge  
of tears now. "And now she's probably..."  
  
"Daddy?"  
  
Startled, Dolphin spun in his seat to see his daughter standing  
right behind him. "Alice!" he called joyfully, practically flying from  
his seat to sweep his daughter up in a bear hug.  
  
"I'm sorry, Daddy," Alice sobbed, hugging her father back.  
  
"Shhh, it's alright, baby," Dolphin hold her. "Everything's alright  
now."  
  
As he watched the reunion, Shibumi spotted out of the corner of  
his eye, a flicker of white in Hypnos' perenial dark gray. He looked  
up to see a girl in a white kimono watching the reunion, too. The  
girl's and his eyes locked in mutual recognition.  
  
"Yukino?" Shibumi whispered to himself as the girl vanished.  
  
***  
  
"Now, now, people, let's not fight among ourselves," the Attache  
placated, soothingly.  
  
"C'mon, everyone, look on the bright side," the Newsie added.  
  
"Bright side?" echoed the Technician. "What bright side?"  
  
A holographic bar chart appeared above the table. "Fear and  
uncertainty are up," the Newsie explained. "Humans were already  
uncertain of what the future holds. With these attacks, the  
overall Dark Side quotient..."  
  
"Dark Side quotient?" the Technician muttered under his breath.  
  
"...has had a serious boost," the Newsie continued, ignoring the  
other's sarcasm. "Add in the previously existing economic and  
international factors..."  
  
"Yes," the Zealot chuckled nastily, "Not a bad piece of work if I do  
say so myself."  
  
"Indeed," the Accountant preened, "it's sometimes amazes me  
what humans will do with just a little encouragement."  
  
"You'll pardon me if I remain pessimistic," the Spy said sourly.  
"Now that the human governments know about us, they have a  
convenient boogieman to blame all their troubles on."  
  
"Ah, but the governments are publicly denying the paranormal,"  
the Newsie pointed out. "Add to that the fact that polls show a  
good many people don't believe them has pushed up the Dark  
Side quotient even higher."  
  
"Did you just make that term up?" the Technician asked. "I mean,  
'Dark Side quotient'?"  
  
"That's not my only concern," the Spy continued, ignoring the  
Technician. "There's also the little matter of the Shadowkhan."  
  
"Yes, I find it disturbing that we might find ourselves in some  
pointless feud with the minions of someone else's Master," the  
Attache added thoughtfully.  
  
"It's inevitable," the Soldier stated. "The Shadowkhan's Master is  
one of these super Digimon. If we fight him, we will ineveitably be  
fighting his Shadowkhan. So what? I have every confidence that  
we can at least defeat those antiquated cultists."  
  
"You sure?" the Spy asked neutrally, not looking at any of them.  
He appeared to be scanning the surrounding shadows, as if he  
suddenly noticed something.  
  
"Absolutely," the Soldier declared proudly. "We are the demons of  
the modern world. The Shadowkhan are relics of a medieval  
past. We have every advantage!"  
  
"I hope you're right," the Spy said quietly as he took off his  
sunglasses and pulled out the special sunglasses. "Because  
they're here."  
  
As the Spy donned his other glasses and transformed, glowing  
red eyes began appearing in the surrounding murk by the score.  
Accompanying the eyes was the sheen of countless blades being  
pulled from scabbards.  
  
As the others scrambled for their special glasses, the Spy jumped  
from his seat, spun, and cut loose with a stream of flame at the  
Shadowkhan behind him. 


	4. Part 3 - The day out

Digital Demons III - Part 3  
  
by Nopporn Wongrassamee  
  
Summary - A Digimon Tamers/Jackie Chan Adventures/  
Gatekeepers Crossover. The team takes a break from Agent Tag's  
brand of training.  
  
Disclaimer - None of these characters are mine, nor am I making a  
profit here.  
  
  
"I'm glad you changed your mind, Jade," Jackie told his niece as  
they entered the convention center.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Uncle Jackie," Jade replied, shrugging. "I  
understand why you did what you did. But that doesn't mean I  
agree with your reasoning though..."  
  
As they entered the main floor through the glass double doors,  
Jade noticed that there was only a light sprinkling of visitors.  
Various artifacts on display ranging from pottery to ancient  
weapons were scattered more or less evenly about. The building  
itself was several stories tall and glass sided with the main floor  
taking up most of the volume. On a sunny day like today, that  
gave the main floor a light and airy feel.  
  
There weren't many visitors present. Two boys and two girls about  
Jade's age filtered out of the light crowd. Jade and Jackie knew  
who they were instantly. It was the team they had left at Section  
13. There were only two Digimon visible. Henry was wearing  
Terriermon like a hat. Jeri had Calumon firmly in her arms like he  
was a plush doll.  
  
"Jade! Hi! I didn't know you were coming here," Rika greeted in a  
forced, totally unconvincing tone of voice.  
  
"Rika! What a coincidence," Jade returned in a similarly fake tone.  
She turned to Jackie. "Right, Jackie? A coincidence!"  
  
"Jade..." Jackie began in Than Voice.  
  
"Okay, okay," Jade said quickly, "the guys wanted to see the  
sights and called me. Here seemed like a good place to start."  
  
"And Agent Tag...I mean MacTaggert, agreed to this?" Jackie  
asked the kids.  
  
"We, um, didn't ask..." Takato replied nervously.  
  
"He was all tied up," Rika intejected quickly.  
  
***  
  
"Oh, kids, I brought some refreshments," Ruriko called as she  
entered Section 13's gym carrying a tray with a full pitcher and  
paper cups on it. Getting no response and not seeing anyone,  
Ruriko called out again. "Kids?"  
  
"Romrr hrrr!"  
  
Following the sound of the voice, Ruriko found Agent MacTaggert  
tied to a weight machine in a darkened corner of the gym with a  
five foot steel bar literally wrapped around him and welded to the  
machine for good measure. A towel was stuffed in his mouth as a  
gag.  
  
"Agent MacTaggert?" Ruriko asked unnecessarily as she set the  
tray on a convenient bench.  
  
"Wrrr ryy thhk?"  
  
"Kids today," Ruriko sighed as she removed the gag.  
  
***  
  
"Okay, what about that?" Takato asked, pointing at a random  
artifact. It was a large, waist high vase decorated with faded  
dragons.  
  
"Ming dynasty, fifth, maybe sixth century," Jade rattled off. She  
had somehow become a sort of unofficial tour guide for the gang  
as she proved to be a surprising store of arcane knowledge  
regarding the relics on show.  
  
"Hey, pretty good," Takato confirmed, reading the placard next to  
the vase.  
  
"How do you know so much about this stuff?" Henry asked Jade,  
a bit intrigued.  
  
"I live in an antiques shop," Jade replied with a humorous smile.  
She jerked a thumb at their impromptu chaperone trailing behind  
them. "And Uncle Jackie is an archaeologist among other things."  
  
"Other things?" Rika quizzed. "Like what?"  
  
"Oh, you know, secret agent stuff," Jade tossed off lightly.  
  
"Jade, I'm just an archaeologist," Jackie corrected, exasperated.  
  
"Ah, don't listen to that old 'I'm just an archaeologist' line," Jade  
told the others, ignoring her uncle more or less. "He's in deep  
denial. Way deep."  
  
"Hey, Jade," Jeri called, pointing at yet another display as Jackie  
stammered for a comeback. "How about that one?"  
  
"It's a sword," Jade replied, just glancing at the artifact. Then she  
took another look and stopped at the display. The sword didn't  
look like anything spectacular at first glance. Jade could barely  
make out what was once a beautiful etching pattern on the blade  
under a thin film of rust. "Funny, I don't recognize the style.  
Jackie?"  
  
"What? Um..." Jackie broke off from his stammering to examine  
the sword. "Hmm, looks familiar, but I can't recall where I've seen  
it before."  
  
"It's called the Green Destiny," a man in a formal tux told them as  
he walked up to them. "Jackie! So good to see you again!"  
  
"Oh, hello, Ambassador Li," Jackie greeted in return. "Kids, this is  
Ambassador Li from China. Now I recall wear I've seen this sword  
before."  
  
"Yes, last year when you and that loud mouthed police officer  
rescued my daughter from those kidnappers in Los Angeles," the  
Ambassador supplied helpfully.  
  
"Kidnappers?" Jade echoed, confusion. She through a suspicious  
stare at Jackie. "Jackie, I remember that trip you took to L.A. You  
never mentioned kidnappers."  
  
"Ah..." Jackie stammered again, this time in embarrassment. He  
decided now would be a good time to change the subject. "Mr.  
Ambassador, why don't you tell the kids about the Green  
Destiny?"  
  
"Alright, Jackie," the Ambassador agreed, obviously amused by  
his discomfort. "The Green Destiny is said to be a magical sword  
capable of slicing through any other weapon."  
  
"Said to be?" Takato repeated, questioningly.  
  
The Ambassador just shrugged. "The archaeologists just think  
that it's very sharp," he replied. "Anyway, the sword was said to  
have belonged to one of the Wuxia, an ancient order of warriors  
said to have near magical fighting abilities. As the story goes,  
there was this princess who desired the sword..."  
  
***  
  
After searching the rest room to make sure there was no one else  
present, Shibumi leaned against the door to make sure he would  
not be interupted. He didn't want anyone to see this. It would  
just raise too many questions he didn't want to answer.  
  
"Alright guys," he said to the empty air. "You can come out now."  
  
Several digignomes appeared out of thin air. They tinkled a query  
at Shibumi.  
  
"Sorry I haven't called in so long," Shibumi apollogized. "It's been  
kinda busy around here."  
  
The digignomes cooed back soothingly.  
  
"Thanks," Shibumi said. "Listen, there's an old friend that I need  
to get in touch with. I didn't even know she was still around until  
I saw her today. Can you deliver a message for me?"  
  
The digignomes tinkled positively.  
  
"Right, tell Yukino that I'm sorry for her loss," Shibumi told them,  
"and that I really need to see her in person."  
  
***  
  
"What a sad story," Jeri commented when the Ambassador  
finished.  
  
"Aw, don't cry Jeri," Calumon soothed.  
  
"Oh, I'm alright," Jeri replied.  
  
"So, are these the Digimon I've heard so much about?" the  
Ambassador asked quietly, looking at Calumon and Terriermon.  
"I presume the fox one is being invisible, but where's the red  
dinosaur?"  
  
"Oh, I stashed him nearby..." Takato paused in mid reply. "You  
know?"  
  
"My dear Tamer," the Ambassador chuckled. "AEGIS, both the old  
and the new, is an international organization. Did you think only  
America and Japan were providing funds? Mr. Yamaki provided  
a rather interesting briefing this morning. And you didn't answer  
my question."  
  
"Oh, um, I thought Guilmon might draw too much attention here,"  
Takato explained. "So I stashed him..."  
  
There was a commotion near the entrance. Shouts of "Monster!"  
and "Dinosaur!" could be heard. Someone even asked, "Hey, is  
Spielberg filming a new dino flick here?"  
  
"Er, excuse me," Takato said quickly as he rushed off.  
  
"Gee, some things never change," Terriermon commented, looking  
after the retreating Takato.  
  
"So, where's Yamaki now, Mr. Ambassador?" Jade asked.  
  
***  
  
As the last of the Shadowkhan was reduced to blue mist, the  
Spy switched back to his human guise. The others quickly  
followed suit.  
  
"Any casualties among us?" the Soldier inquired, holding a rifle  
at the ready. He wasn't about to assume the Shadowkhan had no  
more reinforcements coming.  
  
"We are victorious!" the Zealot proclaimed, waving a whopping  
huge scimitar around. "What do casualties matter?"  
  
"If we have suffered losses, then replacements need to be found  
to keep our table of organization intact," the Technician argued,  
dripping with odd gizmos.  
  
"I believe we are all intact," the Spy announced. He rapped the  
top of the slightly worse for wear table and looked under it. "You  
can come out now."  
  
The Attache scrambled out from under there. "Ah, it's safe?" he  
asked.  
  
"Yes, it's safe, no thanks to you," the Orderly snorted in contempt,  
twirling a big syringe. "He," the Orderly indicated the Accountant,  
"was more useful than you were."  
  
"Hmph! I'm sorry that my specialty is diplomacy..." the Attache  
began coldly.  
  
"Oh, stuff it," the Spy told him shortly. "We have more important  
things to discuss than petty bickering. For example, how did the  
Shadowkhan even find this place?"  
  
"Are you accusing one of us...?" the Zealot began to thunder.  
  
"I accuse nothing," the Spy snapped at him. "I merely asked a  
question that is extremely pertinent to our security. Then there is  
the matter of the Talismans." He picked up the briefcase holding  
said Talismans. "Several of the Shadowkhan tried to snatch these  
during the fight. I think it's pretty obvious that we either quickly  
employ these to protect ourselves or risk losing them entirely. If  
we don't employ them, we might as well send them back to  
Section 13 for safe keeping."  
  
"I still don't see the value of those antiques," the Technician  
stated.  
  
"Perhaps we should have a test," the Soldier mused, plucking a  
random Talisman from the open briefcase. "I've just had an idea."  
  
"This wouldn't happen to be like your last idea would it?" the  
Spy asked suspiciously.  
  
"Now that you mention it..."  
  
***  
  
"There you are! You kids are in big trouble now."  
  
"Oh, great, It's Agent Tag," Jade muttered. "How'd you find us?"  
  
"Ah, the Chans. Why am I not surprised?" MacTaggert said  
witheringly. "As to how I found you pack of delinquents, you lot  
may have tied me up and gagged me, but my ears work just fine.  
I overheard where you lot were going."  
  
"You guys tied him up?" Jade asked Rika, amused.  
  
"Uh, yeah," Rika answered. She turned to MacTaggert. "How'd you  
get loose?"  
  
"I found him," Rika's grandma told her, appearing behind Agent  
MacTaggery. She looked at Rika, a dissapointed expression on  
her face.  
  
"Oh, Grandma, ah, I can explain..." Rika began fidgeting.  
  
"Is there a problem here?" Ambassador Li inquired.  
  
"And who are you?" MacTaggert asked, annoyed. "Another Chan?"  
  
"No, actually," Ambassador Li replied cooly. "I'm the Ambassador  
of China."  
  
MacTaggert froze as his mind worked through the implications.  
Meanwhile, his mouth worked soundlessly of their own accord,  
trying to shape a response.  
  
"I was curious about the investment my government has made,"  
the Ambassador conyinued smoothly. "When I saw these children  
here, I thought to see what they are like for myself."  
  
"I'm...sorry if they've...bothered you, Mr. Ambassador," MacTaggert  
ground out slowly.  
  
"Oh, they're no bother," the Ambassador reassured him. "I find  
them rather delightful. They remind me of my own daughter. The  
question is, can they handle the burden we are placing on  
them?"  
  
"Hey, we can handle anything, Digimon or Invader thrown at us,  
Mr. Ambassador," Jade declared proudly.  
  
"Yeah," the other kids agreed.  
  
"May I remind you, Jade, that you are not on this team?" Agent  
MacTaggert. "Given the reports I've read on your three sole  
engagements with the Enemy, I really don't share your  
confidence."  
  
"You might not have a choice," Rika's grandmother sighed as a  
pen in her breast pocket started beeping.  
  
"What..." Taggert began to ask. He was interupted when the  
windows exploded inward. An instant later, what appeared to be  
a black F-14 fighter jet boomed past overhead.  
  
***  
  
"Oh, it's him again," Takato said to himself as he watched the  
Invader fighter rising into the sky. When the attack came, Takato  
had been outside with Guilmon, trying to convince the crowd  
that the Digimon was a guy in a suit. No one was buying it, least  
of all the kids with their parents. Those kids had quickly  
identified Guilmon as a real live Digimon.  
  
And then there was the news crew nearby setting up to get the  
scoop. Digimon return! Film at eleven. Things didn't get that far.  
The Invader plane had bombed them on its first pass for some  
reason.  
  
The crowd had run screaming in fear from the attack. This left  
Takato and Guilmon momentarily by themselves at the moment.  
Alone, in the open, Takato realized they were a too obvious  
target. But obvious wasn't alway correct.  
  
"Alright, buddy, let's do it!" Takato exclaimed, pulling out his new  
digivolve card and digivice. "Digimodify!" He swiped the card  
through his digivice. "Armor Digivolution, activate!"  
  
"Guilmon, digivolve to..." Guilmon began as he began to glow. The  
Digimon dropped to all fours and quickly grew in size. The armor  
Takato had sketched out earlier materialized around the Digimon,  
and wings sprouted from the pods on his back. As the glow  
faded, Takato's partner concluded with, "...AEROGUILMON!"  
  
Rearing up and letting loose a challenging roar, the spinal plates  
on Aeroguilmon's tail and back rotated ninety degrees into a  
makeshift staircase. Takato ran up this and hopped into the open  
cockpit in the armor right behind Aeroguilmon's head. As Takato  
strapped himself in and lowered his goggles, Aeroguilmon's  
spinal plates rotated back into position and he assumed an even  
more upright stance.  
  
"All right, buddy," Takato said eagerly. "Let's get 'im!"  
  
"Right, Takato," his partner agreed. "RAZOR MISSILES!"  
  
***  
  
Coming back for another attack run, the Invader fighter spotted a  
Digimon that was similar to the one of ones it had been  
expecting. But there were enough differences that the Invader  
realized it was dealing with something new. It broke off the next  
attack to assess the situation.  
  
This was fortunate. The Invader just managed to avoid the swarm  
of missiles suddenly lauched at it. Unfortunately, the missiles  
turned to follow.  
  
And right behind the missiles, the new Digimon launched itself  
into the air like a rocket. Right behind it, were two more Digimon  
the Invader identified as Taomon and Rapidmon. They had just  
digivolved right behind the unknown Digimon and were just now  
rising into the air. They were slower, less of a threat, and  
accounted for.  
  
But first, the Invader had to deal with these missiles.  
  
***  
  
"Okay, I want an Armor Digivolve card of my own," Rika  
commented as she watched both the Invader and Aeroguilmon  
outrace her and Henry's own partners.  
  
"You said it," Henry agreed.  
  
Behind them the rest of the gang watched from just inside the  
trashed convention center.  
  
"What are they doing?" MacTaggert demanded. "I didn't give any  
orders! We need a plan..."  
  
"Tag, they're doing what we're asking them to," Ruriko interupted  
him, turning around to stare him in the eye. "Don't complain just  
be..." A movement of bright color caught her eye. "Jeri look out  
behind you!"  
  
Spinning around with Calumon still in her arms, Jeri spotted the  
danger in an instant. It was a single Invader, though unlike any  
she had heard about. Instead of red or black, this Invader wore  
what appeared to be a canary yellow hat and trenchcoat. It had  
an arm raised and pointed right at Jeri. The hand had morphed  
into a gun barrel. Just inside the muzzle, Jeri spotted one of the  
Talismans.  
  
"Target Locked," the Invader intoned as it opened fire. 


	5. Part 4 - One if by land, Two if by air

Digital Demons III - Part 4  
  
by Nopporn Wongrassamee  
  
Summary - A Digimon Tamers/Jackie Chan Adventures/  
Gatekeepers Crossover. The gang battles Invaders on ground and  
in the air.  
  
Disclaimer - Some (most) of the characters aren't mine, but  
belong to other people I'm too lazy to look up. I am not making a  
profit here.  
  
  
  
As the Invader in yellow fired, Jeri hit back at the same time. Her  
orange Gate opened between them, launching a translucent,  
wispy lion at the Invader. This threw off the Invader's aim as it  
fired a powerful yellow-white energy bolt wrapped in violet rings.  
  
The Invader's shot punched through the lion dissipating it. The  
energy bolt just missed Jeri's head by inches and struck one of  
the building's support columns. The resulting explosion knocked  
everyone off their feet except for the Invader.  
  
Something clipped Jeri's head, knocking her out. Calumon flew  
from her arms as she sprawled to the floor.  
  
Just outside, Rika and Henry spun around in surprise at the  
noise behind them. Their partners stopped their pursuit at the  
same time as they realized the Tamers were in danger. They  
began to decend back to the convention center.  
  
***  
  
Maneuvering wildly and dropping flares and chaff by the bucket  
load, the Invader managed to lose most of the new Digimon's  
missiles. The few that hit didn't damage anything signifigant. It's  
sensors, however, detected that the other two Digimon were no  
longer attempting pursuit. They were returning to the convention  
center.  
  
That was... unacceptable.  
  
***  
  
"This is a very bad plan," the Spy grumbled.  
  
"Oh relax," the Soldier replied. "It's a good plan. Our fighter draws  
the Digimon away and keeps them occupied while our assasin  
destroys the Catalyst. A potential danger is neutralized while your  
precious team remains more or less intact. Everybody's happy."  
  
"I still say we should keep the Catalyst alive as bait," the Spy  
argued.  
  
"Most of us disagree with you," the Orderly pointed out. He looked  
sharply at the Spy. "Do you... like this Digimon of yours?"  
  
"What? No! Of course not!" the Spy replied, perhaps a trifle to  
quickly.  
  
They were all silent for a moment as they watched the unfolding  
battle being projected above the table.  
  
"This is taking too long," the Accountant announced suddenly.  
"The Catalyst should have been destroyed by now."  
  
"Patience," the Soldier soothed. "No plan survives contact with  
the enemy. A little deviation is to be expected."  
  
"Oh, really," the Spy said drily. "You mean like that?" He pointed  
to the image of Aeroguilmon. "I don't recall extended aerial  
dogfights being part of the plan."  
  
"Okay, alot of deviation," the Soldier mumbled. "My soldiers can  
handle it."  
  
***  
  
Riding in Aeroguilmon's open cockpit, Takato realized that he  
may have erred in its design. When he first designed the armored  
form, he had thought a closed cockpit would have been too bulky  
for Aeroguilmon to carry. He had trusted that a protective aura  
would be sufficient to keep air resistance from tearing him to  
shreds. It did, but enough wind got through that Takato couldn't  
pull out any Modify cards without risking them all being blown  
away.  
  
For right now, that was academic. Aeroguilmon was chasing the  
Invader fighter through its wild maneuvering. The Digimon fired  
several Pyro Bursts, a series of fireballs fired with machine gun  
rapidity, at the Invader. At this distance it was difficult to tell if  
any even hit.  
  
Suddenly Takato found himself and Aeroguilmon facing the  
Invader head to head. As they screamed towards each other at  
almost supersonic speeds, a part of Takato's mind noted that the  
Invader didn't exactly resemble an F-14 jet fighter. A pair of what  
appeared to be booster rockets were mounted on the jet's back.  
The arrangement was familiar, but in that instant, Takato couldn't  
recall why.  
  
The rest of him was concentrating on the aerial game of chicken.  
  
The Invader launched a quartet of missiles. Aeroguilmon dodged  
aside easily and replied with another swarm of his own missiles.  
At this range, it was almost impossible to miss. And then Takato  
realized the Invader's missiles hadn't been aimed at them at all.  
  
Well behind them, the Invader's missiles struck Rapidmon and  
Taomon in their backs, turning their decent into uncontroled  
falls.  
  
***  
  
Jade was the first one back on her feet. As she got up, she saw  
that the Invader was turning to shoot at Calumon who was also  
in the process of getting on his feet. Reacting instantly, Jade  
sprinted forward and took a flying kick at the trenchcoated  
Invader.  
  
With it's remaining hand, the Invader caught Jade by the ankle  
before she hit it. Jade suddenly found herself hanging upside  
down from that ankle as the Invader examined her with mild  
curiosity.  
  
"Identity: Jade Chan," the Invader monotoned.  
  
"Yep, that's me," Jade said brightly, kicking the Invader in the  
mouth with her free foot. There was little effect.  
  
"Threat assessment: Nuisance," the Invader continued. Despite  
it's monotone voice, it seemed to growl in annoyance.  
  
"Nuisance!" Jade yelped in outrage. In reply, the Invader easily  
tossed her over its shoulder. Jade flew through the air and  
crashed into a display stand.  
  
Meanwhile, the Invader was lining up another shot at Calumon.  
  
***  
  
Outside, Rapidmon and Taomon hit the ground. Henry and Rika  
staggered in sympathetic pain.  
  
***  
  
High in the sky, the Invader dodged Aeroguilmon's missiles in a  
most peculiar fashion. It's lower engines swung down almost  
ninety degrees, shooting the fighter off at a near right angle. The  
missiles swerved to follow, but too slowly.  
  
As Takato watched, the Invader fighter seemed to fold in half,  
sprout arms, and take on a humaoid appearance. Flying  
backwards, it fired a scaled up rifle on full auto, blowing the  
missiles out of the sky.  
  
Suddenly, Takato recalled where he had seen this Invader's form  
before. The Invader hadn't assumed the form of an F-14 at all. It  
was in fact imitating one of the transforming Super Valkyries from  
the anime series Macross.  
  
Slower now but more maneuverable, the Invader destroyed the  
last missile and then turned it's fire on Aeroguilmon.  
  
***  
  
"Jade!" Jackie shouted in concern as he saw his niece go flying.  
Grabbing the first thing at hand - in this case, a toppled flag  
staff with a ragged Chinese flag on it - Jackie leapt over where  
Ruriko was healing Jeri and charged the Invader.  
  
Bringing the flag around like a whip, Jackie wrapped the flag  
around the Invader's gun arm and jerked with all his strength.  
The Invader's next energy bolt went awry, hitting a still intact  
window pane and exploded harmlessly.  
  
The Invader regarded Jackie and the flag wrapped around its arm.  
  
"Excuse me," Jackie muttered, swinging the free end of the staff  
around to strike the Invader in the head. The end shattered. The  
Invader's head hardly moved.  
  
"Identity: Jackie Chan," the Invader recited. "Threat assessment:  
Annoyance." With that, the Invader jerked its gun arm hard  
enough to pull Jackie off his feet. It swung Jackie around in an  
attempt to dislodge the archaeologist. Jackie resolutely hung on  
to the remains of the staff.  
  
"Bad day!" Jackie commented to himself as the Invader swung  
him over his head. "Bad DAY!" as the Invader swung Jackie  
horizontally, and transformed its free arm into a wickedly long  
blade. "BAD DAAAAY!" as the Invader swung Jackie over its head  
again, using its new blade to cut the flag off.   
  
Jackie hit the floor on his back, stunned. Looking up, he saw the  
Invader thrust with the blade at his face. Just before the blade  
struck, another blade deflected the Invader's aside, sending it  
harmlessly into the floor less than an inch from Jackie's ear.  
  
"Bad day," Jade said to the Invader, Green Destiny in hand, "for  
you."  
  
***  
  
Jeri's eyes opened.  
  
"Jeri, are you okay?" Ruriko asked gently as she helped the girl  
sit up.  
  
"Um, I think so," Jeri replied groggily.  
  
"Good," Ruriko said.  
  
They looked up just in time to see Jade save her uncle from a  
quick death. The Invader swung its gun arm around to shoot  
Jade, but the girl dodged the shot and batted the gun aside with  
a slightly rusty sword. Then Jackie was on his feet and attacking  
from the other side with a flagstaff.  
  
"Help Jade and her Uncle," Ruriko instructed as she helped the  
girl to her feet.  
  
Ruriko turned to see Ambassador Li sitting up on the floor, eyes  
switching back and forth repeatedly between the battle inside  
and the battle outside in avid interest. Agent MacTaggert   
crouched nearby, gun drawn and aimed at the Invader inside,  
trying to get a clear shot.  
  
"What are you doing?" Ruriko shouted at the Agent, grabbing his  
arm and jerking the gun upward. "Small arms don't work on  
Invaders! And you might hit one of the Chans."  
  
"I can't just sit around and do nothing!" MacTaggert retorted  
haggardly.  
  
"Keep the Ambassador safe," Ruriko told him, recognizing his  
need to do something.  
  
Looking outside again, Ruriko took a quick mental snapshot of  
the situation. The Invader and Takato's Digimon were circling and  
shooting at each other in the sky. Rika's and Henry's Digimon  
were on the ground, staggering to their feet. As she watched, the  
grounded Digimon both shot at the aerial Invader. Both literally  
missed by a mile, actually coming closer to hitting Takato's  
Digimon which still wasn't all that close at all.  
  
***  
  
It quickly became apparent to Jade that this Invader didn't know  
squat about swordplay or hand to hand. It was depending almost  
entirely on its superior speed, strength, and durability to stand up  
to them.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, Jade saw Jeri pick up a broken,  
serpentine dragon statuette. Jeri drew the statuette back for a  
throw, and her Gate opened.  
  
"Jackie! Incoming!" Jade shouted in warning. At the same time,  
both she and her Uncle leaped and rolled away from the Invader  
as Jeri threw the statuette through the Gate. As the statuette  
passed through the Gate, it took on a brilliant orange glow as it  
was imbued with the Gate's energy. It also grew in size, becoming  
an animate dragon the size of a small car as it flew towards the  
Invader. Unlike Jeri's previous constructs, this one actually looked  
solid, not translucent at all.  
  
It's head also looked distinctly lion-like.  
  
In a blur, the Invader dodged Jeri's dragon as it landed on the  
spot where the Invader had just been. Jade realized that the  
Invader must also have the Rabbit Talisman on it. What else did  
it have? The Invader came to a stop almost between Jade and  
Jeri's dragon.  
  
With lightning speed, the dragon twisted around and spat a  
fireball at the Invader. It struck the Invader with an explosion  
every bit as powerful as the Invader's own. The Invader rocked  
back but was otherwise undamaged.  
  
Dog Talisman, Jade realized. Immortality.  
  
The Invader raised its gun arm and shot the dragon between the  
eyes.  
  
***  
  
"Oh, this is useless!" Rika shouted in frustration. "We can't catch  
it. We can't shoot it. What good are we?"  
  
"Well, Takato can catch it, but I don't think he can damage it,"  
Henry said thoughtfully as he watched the aerial battle. It seemed  
stalemated.  
  
"What do you mean?" Rika asked.  
  
"Aeroguilmon can barely hit the Invader, too," Henry clarified,  
"and what hits doesn't appear to do much if any damage." He  
sighed. "It was in Takato's notes. In order to get all that speed, he  
had to choose between sacrificing armor or firepower. He chose  
firepower."  
  
"He did what?" Rika shook her head in disbelief. "That is such..."  
She saw Aeroguilmon stagger from a heavy hit, then fly back into  
the fray firing everything he had as if nothing had happened. "...a  
wise decision," Rika concluded faintly.  
  
"Henry, what do we do?" Rapidmon asked plaintively.  
  
An explosion came from inside the convention center, drawing  
all their attention. They saw a glowing orange, lion headed  
dragon inside.  
  
"Perhaps we should investigate?" Taomon suggested.  
  
"Rika! Henry!" Rika's grandmother called as she stepped out of  
the building and headed over to them.  
  
"Grandma? What's going on?" Rika asked earnestly.  
  
"This is a two pronged attack," her grandmother told them. She  
pointed at the aerial battle. "That is apparently a diversion."  
  
"Good diversion," Henry commented.  
  
"I'll say," Rapidmon muttered. "Ouch!"  
  
"Anyway, we need your help inside," Rika's grandmother added.  
  
"But we can't just leave Takato and Aeroguilmon alone up there,"  
Rika objected.  
  
"Hmm, no," her grandmother agreed, studying the situation. Then  
she smiled down at her granddaughter. "I have a plan."  
  
***  
  
Jeri's dragon reeled backwards from the attack, but didn't  
evaporate. The Invader shot it again. And again. The dragon  
refused to go down.  
  
This did not look good to Jade, so she charged. The Invader either   
didn't notice or didn't care. In less that half a dozen steps, Jade  
was beside it. She brought the Green Destiny down edge first on  
the Invader's gun arm, hoping to knock its aim off.  
  
The Green Destiny sheared through the arm like it was made of  
rice paper. The severed limb disintegrated into nothingness as it  
fell. Only the Dragon Talisman remained, hitting the floor with a  
ping and rolling away.  
  
"Whoa..." Jade whispered as both she and the Invader stared at  
the remaining stump in amazement. Maybe the Green Destiny  
really was a magic sword.  
  
Then the arm grew back, a fully functional hand on the end. Jade  
immediately deduced that the Invader must also have the Horse  
Talisman to heal itself so fast.  
  
The Invader's expression didn't change, but Jade suddenly got  
the feeling it was smiling nastily at her as it changed the new arm  
into another blade.  
  
Before it could do anything, Jeri's dragon shot the Invader again.  
The concussion from the blast knocked Jade backwards.  
  
***  
  
"Jade!" Jackie exclaimed in horror as Jeri went flying. The dragon  
shot the Invader again, with as little effect as before. Jackie  
turned to Jeri."Don't you control that thing?"  
  
"I'm trying," Jeri told him, "but there's something... wrong. It's not  
like the others."  
  
"What? How?" Jackie asked. He saw Jade get up, apparently  
intact if a little worse for wear. She headed over to them, sword in  
hand.  
  
"It's... not under my direct control," Jeri said slowly, groping for an  
a clear answer. "It's like I gave it a set of orders when I made it. It  
won't stop until it follows through."  
  
"I take it you didn't include anything about bystanders?" Jade  
asked drily as she staggered up to them and leaned tiredly  
against Jackie.  
  
"Um, sorry," Jeri appologized. "You okay?"  
  
"Oh, I'm fine," Jade dismissed. "Your pet dragon looks like its in  
trouble though."  
  
They saw that the Invader had its arms wrapped around the  
dragon's neck in a terminable bear hug. The dragon thrashed and  
clawed at the Invader in a vain attempt to get loose. The Invader's  
arm blades were cutting slowly into Jeri's dragon, and orange bits  
of light were gushing from the wounds.  
  
In fact, Jeri thought with a shiver, those light bits looked alot like  
the data particles that Digimon turned into when they died.  
  
Jeri felt the dragon die. It was painful, but nowhere near as  
painful as when Leomon died. The dragon exploded in a near  
soundless flash of orange light. Where it had been, only the  
statuette remained. It dropped to the floor and shattered.  
  
The Invader turned menacingly towards them.  
  
***  
  
Up in the sky, the Invader jet-turn-mecha was still busy  
exchanging fire with the airborne Digimon. Since its job was  
primarily distraction and not destruction, it was satisfied with the  
situation. Then it detected the other two Digimon heading back  
towards the convention center.  
  
Unacceptable.  
  
Firing off a parting burst from its rifle, the mecha Invader dived  
groundward. Surprise kept the aerial Digimon from following for  
precious seconds. There was no way for the Digimon to catch it  
in time, the Invader calculated.  
  
Bearing down on the two grounded Digimon, the Invader opened  
up with gun and missiles going full blast. It noticed several  
humans with them, but discounted them as any kind of threat.  
One of the humans pointed up and shouted something.  
  
The green Digimon leapt into the air and spun to face the mecha  
Invader. The yellow Digimon also twisted around, but raised a  
protective force dome that withstood the brunt of the Invader's  
attack. The green Digimon returned fire with huge, triangular  
beam.  
  
Surprised, the Invader mecha attempted to dodge and was  
almost succesful. The green Digimon's attack tore off the  
Invader's rifle arm. As the Invader attempted to retreat, a swarm  
of missiles struck its back, shredding the back mounted booster  
pods. This was followed moments later by the the Digimon the  
Invader had thought it had left safely behind. It literally tackled  
the mecha Invader.  
  
The Invader was confused, almost panicky. How had the red  
Digimon moved so fast? It hadn't displayed the capability before.  
  
A little Modify card fluttered past its head.  
  
Tumbling together and fighting for control, the two zigged and  
zagged in random directions, clipping a few buildings. Suddenly,  
the Invader found itself face to face with the green Digimon. The  
green Digimon placed both gun muzzles that substituted as its  
hands against the Invader's chest plate and just spoke two words  
clearly.  
  
"RAPID MISSILE!"  
  
***  
  
"Good plan, Grandma," Rika complimented.  
  
"Thanks, dear," Ruriko replied. "But don't think that gets you off  
the hook for the way you treated Agent Tag."  
  
Rika scowled.  
  
***  
  
"GATE OPEN!" Jeri shouted, calling up the familiar pair of orange  
concentric rings, Jeri sent one of her more familiar translucent  
orange lions at the Invader.  
  
With a single slash, the Invader dispersed the energy construct. It  
took a step forward.  
  
"TALISMAN OF LIGHT!"  
  
A blast of energy came through a broken window, rocking the  
Invader back on its heels. Moments later, Taomon entered  
through a sufficiently large hole that had been blasted open  
earlier. Rika and her grandmother followed. The Invader paused  
to assess the newcomer.  
  
Then it felt the Invader mecha die. The other two Digimon would  
be here soon. It's mission must be complete before then or...  
  
An energy blast struck the Invader from the side. Surprised and  
unbraced for the attack, the Invader staggered and turned to see  
who had shot it. The Invader thought it had all its opponents  
accounted for.  
  
Standing on a nearby glass display, was Calumon. The little  
Digimon held the Dragon Talisman in both hands. He looked  
uncharacteristically angry.  
  
"I'm tired of my friends getting hurt because of me!" Calumon  
told the Invader. "Take that!" He fired another shot. "And that!"  
Another shot.  
  
Expecting the attacks this time, the Invader easily withstood them. Utilizing the Rabbit Talisman, the Invader dashed forward,  
intent on skewering the Catalyst before he could react.  
  
Then suddenly Jade Chan was in its way. Swinging the Green  
Destiny like a baseball bat, the girl cut the Invader's legs out from  
under it in mid-dash. At its speed, the Invader went sprawling  
into the base of the display head first.  
  
Almost unnoticed, the legs disintegrated, leaving behind the  
Rabbit and Rooster Talismans.  
  
Unbalanced as the display shook from the impact, Calumon fell  
off. Retaining his grip on the Dragon Talisman, he extended his  
wing-like ears and turned his fall into a glide away from the  
Invader.  
  
Growing a new set of legs, the Invader got up and tried to assess  
the situation again. The diversion was gone. Three Talismans  
were lost. One Digimon, two Gatekeepers, and one normal human  
with the only weapon present capable of actually inflicting  
damage were arrayed against it. The Catalyst, the entire reason  
for this operation, was now safely behind its defenders. The  
chances of success were now virtually nil.  
  
It was time to run.  
  
***  
  
"Oh, no you don't," Jade muttered when the Invader began  
sinking into a portal on the floor. She dashed forward again. With  
one slash of the Green Destiny, Jade chopped off the blades the  
Invader raised to defend itself. On the return slash, Jade cut off  
its legs off again. The portal vanished, taking the new legs with it.  
  
The Invader hit the floor on its leg stumps and began to topple  
backwards. Jade arrested this by the simple expedient of  
thrusting the Green Destiny straight through the Invader's back.  
The blade sprouted out the Invader's chest, and yet another  
Talisman clinked on the floor, apparently pushed out by the  
sword.  
  
It was, Jade saw, the Dog.  
  
Quickly pulling the sword out, Jade dived for the Dog Talisman.  
Scooping it up, she rolled to her feet, held it up for everyone to  
see, and shouted, "Alright everybody! Hit that s.o.b!"  
  
Calumon fired first, blowing off the Invader's head. This was  
followed by one of Jeri's lions hitting the Invader's chest and  
cutting through out its back. Two more Talismans hit the floor.  
Taomon delivered the coup de grace, and the Invader was  
reduced to a little yellow crystal that fell to the floor. Once on the  
floor, the little crystal began to evaporate into little bits of light.  
  
At that instant, Rapidmon and Aerogiulmon crashed through  
some until then intact window framework. Moments later, Henry  
ran in through the main door.  
  
"Are we too late?" Henry asked breathlessly. The others just  
stared back.  
  
His only reply was the sound of a single pair of clapping hands.  
  
***  
  
Shibumi entered his apartment after a long day at work. He had  
been expecting at least some sort of reply from Yukino all day.  
There had been nothing. She apparently wasn't going to come.  
  
He plopped onto his sofa, tired. As he closed his eyes, he felt a  
snowflake hit his nose. His eyes popped open. Standing next to  
his sofa was Yukino. It was also snowing lightly in his apartment,  
except that the apartment was gone. There was only the sofa and  
them surrounded by inky darkness. And falling snowflakes.  
  
Shibumi scrambled to his feet.  
  
"Princess, Yukino, I'm so glad you decided to visit your poor,  
humble servant," Shibumi greeted quickly, bowing formally.  
  
Yukino just stared back wordlessly.  
  
"Um...I'm sorry for that I could not convey the news of Musashi's  
loss to you in person, your highness," Shibumi continued.  
  
"Why?" It was only a single word, but filled with so much meaning  
and grief.  
  
"Because I still had to persue Po Kong..."  
  
"No," Yukino interupted. A Digignome appeared beside her and  
fluttered about. She pointed at it. "Why?"  
  
"Oh, you mean why I created the Digimon?" Shibumi interpreted.  
He sighed. "This will take some explaining." 


	6. Epilogue - Mop up operations

Digital Demons III - Epilogue  
  
by Nopporn Wongrassamee  
  
Summary - A Digimon Tamers/Jackie Chan Adventures/  
Gatekeepers Crossover. The mop up operation where all is  
revealed.  
  
Disclaimer - None of these characters are mine, nor am I  
making a profit here.  
  
  
"Bravo!" Ambassador Li applauded, clapping his hands together.  
His gaze tracked to include them all. "You are all everything Agent  
Yamaki has said about you and more."  
  
"Ah, thank you, Mr. Ambassador," Agent MacTaggert replied,  
speaking for the team as its designated leader.  
  
"Although, Yamaki's report didn't mention you, little warrior," the  
Ambassador continued, his eyes locking on Jade. She had the  
Green Destiny in hand, flat of the blade resing on her shoulder.  
"Why is that?"  
  
"Miss Chan isn't a member of this team," MacTaggert told him  
stiffly.  
  
"Why not?" the Ambassador pressed. "She contributed greatly to  
the victory here."  
  
All eyes swiveled to lock on Jackie.  
  
"Ah, er..." Jackie stammered.  
  
"Go on, Uncle Jackie," Jade prompted. "Tell the nice Ambassador."  
  
Jackie sighed in resignation. "One, it's too dangerous," Jackie  
began, ticking the reasons off on his fingers. "Two, Jade is too  
young. They are all too young."  
  
"Hey!" the kids all objected at once.  
  
"And three, unlike the rest of them," Jackie continued stubbornly,  
"Jade is lacking in innate magic powers."  
  
Jade casually flipped the Dog Talisman like a coin. She said  
nothing.  
  
"All good points, Jackie," the Ambassador said thoughtfully. "I  
admit, if Jade were my daughter, I would not want her playing  
superhero as well. On the other hand, Jade possesses a  
resourcefulness that would be very useful for the team to have.  
Perhaps you should reconsider?"  
  
"Sir, you can't be serious," Agent MacTaggert said to Ambassador  
Li as Jackie considered.  
  
"I am," the Ambassador replied. He frowned at the agent. "I'm  
sorry, who are you again?"  
  
"Agent MacTaggert," the Agent answered. "I've been assigned as  
the temporary team leader."  
  
"Very temporary," the Ambassador murmurred under his breath.  
Then louder so everyone could hear, "Are you? I would have  
thought this dignified lady is the team leader."  
  
"Oh, not me," Ruriko said modestly. She hugged Rika close to her  
side with one arm. "I'm just a relation."  
  
"Perhaps you should be more?" the Ambassador suggested. "You  
displayed a certain level headedness and confidence one would  
expect in a leader. And I saw that you possess some measure of  
power yourself. Perhaps you should be the team's leader instead  
of... of..." The Ambassador turned to MacTaggert. "What was your  
name again?"  
  
"Alright!" Jackie said suddenly. "Jade can join the team."  
  
"Yes!" Jade exclaimed. Several of the other kids congratulated  
her.  
  
"But I reserve the right to pull you out at any time," Jackie added  
pointedly.  
  
"Sure, whatever Jackie," Jade said dismissively.  
  
"I'm sure you'll do us all proud, Jade," the Ambassador told Jade.  
"The best wishes of all of China go with you."  
  
"Does this mean I get to keep the Green Destiny?" Jade asked  
hopefully.  
  
Ambassador Li chuckled in amusement. "No."  
  
"Darn."  
  
***  
  
"So, what can we say are the results of this disaster of a test?"  
the Attache asked quietly.  
  
"Everything functioned exactly as we predicted," the Technician  
stated. "The test would have been a success if the opposition had  
not surprised our forces with traps and previously unseen  
abilities."  
  
"Humans do that," the Spy said drily. "All the time."  
  
"Well, yes," the Technician fumbled. "As it is, we suffered some  
losses."  
  
"Some losses?" the Accountant echoed vehemently. "Try one  
hundred percent! One. Hundred. Percent. Both among the our  
ordinary troops and the new prototype! Not only that, we've also  
lost those Talismans that would have been most useful to us.  
And the primary objective was not completed."  
  
"Well, one thing this test has shown is that these humans and  
their pet Digimon are far more dangerous than we had initially  
estimated them to be," the Soldier announced. "That means they  
can be dangerous to us as well."  
  
"Please, leave the paranoia to me," the Spy told him. "I'm much  
better at it. In any case, my team being dangerous is a good  
thing. They can defend us against the wild Digimon all the  
better and they'll be under our control. They are only a danger to  
us only if we keep pulling these half-baked hit and run attacks  
around them."  
  
The Spy glared at the others around the table, daring anyone to  
disagree with him. Nobody did.  
  
"Alright, I think we are all agreed to let you handle the Digimon  
situation," the Attache said, finally breaking the silence. "If no  
one has any other business?" No one did. "Then I declare this  
meeting adjourned. See you all next month."  
  
As one, they stood up. "HAIL, VADER!" they simultaneously  
chanted.  
  
"That is such a corny line," the Newsie added as they all  
teleported out.  
  
All was quiet for several minutes. Then the Zealot returned  
alone.  
  
"'Corny'? They should have more respect for the old Masters," the  
Zealot muttered darkly into the emptiness. A Shadowkhan  
appeared beside him. "I have a message for your Master," the  
Zealot told it. "Listen closely..."  
  
***  
  
Nocking an arrow into her bow, Ruriko studied her target.  
  
"I hear that Agent MacTaggert has...embarrased himself," Captain  
Black asked as he watched behind her.  
  
"Mm hmm," she hummed affirmative. Ruriko brought the bow up  
and aimed carefully.  
  
"I also hear that you've taken over the team from him," Black  
continued.  
  
"I did," Ruriko confirmed, releasing the arrow. It flew straight and  
true. Ruriko had another arrow nocked and ready to go as the  
first struck the target. She sent several more arrows off in rapid  
succession.  
  
"I also hear that this practice range was designed with handguns  
in mind," Black added lightly.  
  
Ruriko stifled a giggle. "Why do you think I'm using a stuffed  
dummy instead of a paper target?" she asked with mock severity.  
"If I'm going to be doing this superhero nonsense again, it only  
makes sense to get some practice in before the next crisis."  
  
"I would have thought that you might want to spend some time  
with the kids," Black said. "Train them up on teamwork."  
  
"Like Agent Tag did?" Ruriko snorted as she reeleed the target  
back. It was leaking stuffing badly. "The kids are already a team,  
Captain Black. What they really need is to learn a little discipline.  
Just because they're playing superhero now doesn't exempt them  
from rules of common courtesy."  
  
"Like tying up and gagging Agent MacTaggert?"  
  
"Exactly," Ruriko nodded, pulling her arrows from the practice  
dummy. "I've arranged a little punishment detail for them. They  
have to clean up every rest room here at Section 13."  
  
"Oh?" Black eyebrows rose. "I didn't think our restrooms were  
that bad."  
  
"They're not," Ruriko chuckled. "It's just time consuming and  
boring. That's punishment enough for the kids."  
  
There was a distant crash, followed by the sound of gushing  
water.  
  
"Although maybe I shouldn't have left them alone," Ruriko added  
faintly.  
  
***  
  
"Did you hear that?" Takato asked, pausing in wiping down the  
mirror in the Men's room.  
  
"Yeah," Henry replied. He reached out and stopped a mop being  
ridden by two Digimon. Terriermon was clutching the mop and  
using his spinning attack to whirl the mop at high speed.  
Calumon was just along for the ride. "Stop that," Henry ordered  
sternly. "Mrs. Ukiya said no powers."  
  
"Oh, c'mon, Henry," Terriermon whined.  
  
"I don't think that was it," Takato told them as he put the rag and  
spray bottle into a holder Guilmon was wearing. The large  
Digimon's claws were too big and clumsy to help in cleaning so  
Takato had elected him as the group's pack mule. "I think that  
noise is coming from next door. The Ladies' room I think."  
  
"It's probably nothing," Henry told him, rinsing the mop out in the  
bucket. "Even if it is, I'm sure the girls can handle it."  
  
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Takato agreed. He examined his  
handiwork on the mirror for a moment. "Henry?"  
  
"Hmm?" Henry answered as he started mopping. "What is it?"  
  
"Could you loan me a few Modify cards?"  
  
"What happened to yours?" Henry asked, concerned.  
  
"Oh, heh, I lost most of mine on that last attack," Takato replied  
sheepishly. "When I pulled out that last card, the wind blew most  
of my deck all over the place. I think they're scattered all over  
downtown San Francisco now."  
  
"Hey, Henry," Terriermon interupted before Henry could reply.  
"Don't you think that's too much water?"  
  
"Terriermon, what..." Henry began. He stopped abruptly when he  
spotted water streaming in under the door from the hallway.  
  
***  
  
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Rika began, standing in ankle deep  
water, "but didn't Grandma say not to use any powers?"  
  
"Sorry," Jeri squeaked.  
  
"Hey, it was my idea," Jade interceded. "Lay off her."  
  
"Well, we're all going to be in serious trouble if we can't fix this,"  
Rika declared as a glowing orange broom strolled by hauling a  
toilet in its arms. "Jeri, can't you stop it?"  
  
"I don't think it's going to stop if I just tell it to," Jeri said. "It's like  
that statue back at the convention center. When I make one of my  
Gatepuppets with an already existing object, it just does what I  
first told it to. They don't stop for anything."  
  
"Oh, I don't believe that," Jade scoffed. "You made it, you should  
be able to exert some kind of control over it."  
  
"We don't have time for this," Rika said irritably. "Renamon?"  
  
There were a couple of splashes as Renamon materialized beside  
the Tamer. "Rika?"  
  
Rika pointed at the returning broom. It had chucked the toilet  
somewhere. "You know what to do."  
  
"Of course. DIAMOND STORM!"  
  
***  
  
"Where to start?" Shibumi said to himself.  
  
Yukino said nothing. She just stared back.  
  
"Might as well, start at the beginning," Shibumi concluded with a  
sigh. "For what seems like forever, humanity has been plagued  
by demons. They werealways just there, feeding on the energies  
humanity put out. Now occaisionally, some demons will develop  
aspirations for world conquest. They'll create legions of identical  
minions for themselves, gather allies, and accumalate all sorts of  
magical mojo. You with me so far, highness?"  
  
Yukino just stared back.  
  
"When we Eight Immortals banished those Demon Sorcerers two  
thousand years ago, I thought our job was done," Shibumi  
continued. "Oh, sure, other demons would try something similar,  
but a band of heroes would always rise to the occaision. I wasn't  
too concerned after a while." He grimaced. "Then came thirty  
years ago when Kageyama tried taking over Japan. I got my first  
look at the Invaders."  
  
Yukino stare seemed to shift from him. She was recalling that  
event, too.  
  
"These Invaders were demons of a different breed than the ones  
that came before," Shibumi reminisced. "They were demons of  
the Industrial Age, a magnitude more powerful than their  
medieval predecessors. With a little research, I figured out that  
demons were evolving along with human society. And I also  
discovered that the next Age of demons was practically around  
the corner."  
  
He paused as the Digignome that Yukino had summoned landed  
on his shoulder. Yukino herself examined it.  
  
"The spirit world was changing," Shibumi continued. "As computers and networks became more common, spirits were  
starting to pick up digital formats. I knew demons in digital forms  
were inevitable. So I pre-empted them. Instead of waiting for  
digital demons to spontaneously appear, I set out to create them.  
I recruited a team of programmers who were also latent magicians   
of one kind or another. We created digital demons, but we built  
in code so that they would naturally bond with humans."  
  
Shibumi looked at Yukino, a pleading look in his eyes.  
  
"Please understand, your highness," he almost begged. "I only  
meant to free humanity of the constant cycle of demon attacks. I  
didn't want humans to become the victims of Information Age  
demons. I had no idea the D-Reaper would become so dangerous,  
or that the Sorcerers could asume digital form and come back to  
haunt us."  
  
Yukino just looked down. A single tear fell from her eye. When it  
hit the nonexistant floor, it shattered, frozen in mid-drop. And  
when it shattered, Shibumi's eyes opened.  
  
He was back in his apartment, alone but for a small snowman  
melting on his coffee table..  
  
***  
  
"I cannot contact, Po Kong," AstroTsoLanMon announced.  
  
"She's probably just stuffing her face," MegaShenduMon  
reasoned.  
  
"You are not listening, brother," AstroTsoLanMon disagreed. "I  
said that I could not contact her. Po Kong is not there to be  
contacted. Not in body or in spirit. She is gone."  
  
There was silence as the others digested this information.  
  
"Perhaps an even stronger force?" ElectroTchangZuMon  
suggested.  
  
"We had thought Xiao Fung and Po Kong more than enough  
force," AstroTsoLanMon pointed out. "Perhaps we should employ  
a bit of subtlety first?"  
  
"You have a point, brother," TidalBaiSaMon said thoughtfully. "We  
rule the Digital World now. Let's see if we can get some use out  
of these Digimon. I even have the perfect agent."  
  
"Do you now?" MegaShenduMon asked as TidalBaiSaMon  
literally vomited out a tiny purple Digimon into her waiting hand.  
  
"I believe I will take you up on your offer," TidalBaiSaMon told  
the little purple Digimon. "Introduce yourself."  
  
"About time," the Digimon coughed. "I'm Impmon."  
  
"Indeed?" mused MegaShenduMon. "Finally, a Digimon that  
admits what it truly is."  
  
"You bet yer golden hiney," Impmon replied miserably. "What do  
you want me to do?" 


End file.
